Coming Home
by Anony-Mousy
Summary: A short story. Sue realises she made a mistake when she took the job in New York but is there still a place for her in D.C.? One member of the Team isn't convinced...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **A two-part short story that came to me while listening to Richard Marx. I think you'll be able to guess which song. :-D

**Disclaimer**: The characters in this story don't belong to me they remain the property of Paxson Entertainment and Pebblehut. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

o-xxx-o

**Coming Home**

o-xxx-o

Staring out of the window, Sue watched a little nervously as they taxied out, her eyes barely able to focus on the scene outside as the plane ate up the concrete of the runway while gathering enough impetus to lift itself off the ground. She could feel that they were airborne at last and leaned back in her seat, relaxing and closing her eyes. She was leaving Ohio with mixed emotions, her father had been willing to support her but her mother felt let down. Carla had seen the decision as a defeat for her daughter and none of the excuses she'd given could convince her otherwise. The truth would probably have made her understand but if she'd told her, she would probably have never been allowed out of her parents' house again, let alone out of the state. For now, she was a disappointed woman and Sue knew it would take her a while to get over it. She could still see the older woman's words…

"Susan Thomas, I didn't raise you to be a quitter and as far as I'm concerned that's what you are but as you've always gone to great lengths to point out, it's your life not mine…"

Yes, it was her life but, annoyingly, her mother had been right to a certain extent, although she preferred to think of her actions as more of correcting a mistake…

The New York offer had been far too good to pass up. She had known it would be a challenge but she'd never been one to back away, always determined to prove to herself and everyone around her that she was as good as, if not better than they gave her credit for and it had been both an enjoyable and rewarding experience at first.

The travel hadn't been quite as much fun as she'd expected, mainly because of the long-haul flights which could be incredibly boring, especially when you had no one to talk to and nothing to do but sleep or read. The in-flight movie and radio had been non-starters for obvious reasons and there was only a certain amount of times you could flick through the free magazines that were packed full of advertisements for things you either didn't want or couldn't afford. The one companion she did have wasn't much on conversation or flying for that matter and more often than not there just wasn't enough room for him and worried he might get trodden on, which had happened more than once, she always had him stowed for the duration and then he'd sulk for days when they reached their destination. Internal flights weren't as much of a problem, providing they were short, but turbulence always agitated him, making him difficult to handle.

The job itself had been interesting and she'd met a lot of influential people but unlike D.C., there was no camaraderie in the NY Field Office. In fact, she was convinced most of the occupants of the 23rd floor didn't really like or even know their colleagues; they were too busy trying to outdo one another in pursuit of the best cases. She'd missed the fun and friendly banter that went on in her own Unit, not that she'd had much call to visit their equivalent of the bullpen, apart from the odd briefing. It was used mainly for working cases as a team whereas individual lines of inquiry were conducted in assigned cubicles, something Myles would have hated… Members of the cabin crew were coming down the aisle with drinks and she accepted a hot chocolate gratefully, lowering her table and allowing it to stand and cool, having burned her tongue more times than she cared to count.

It was her free-time that had had her questioning her original decision. For the most part she worked alone, although she did share an assistant with Ted Hackford, that was when he could spare her which wasn't often and she'd wondered from the outset if they'd had something going on as the girl often worked late for no apparent reason. Her suspicions had been proven, when they'd had a lunch meeting that had overrun making them late back at the office. The younger woman had been rude and sullen, and she'd practically been able to feel the daggers of jealousy her eyes had shot into her back for the rest of the day. Cheating in a relationship had never been something she could stomach and having met Ted's wife a couple of times and liked her, it had been doubly hard to overlook.

She'd kept in touch with everyone in D.C. but the phone just wasn't the same as seeing them face-to-face. Lucy had come to stay once and promised to do so again but they'd been buried up to their necks in work for the past couple of months and she hadn't been able get away. Tara and Bobby had called her from time to time as had D and Donna and even Myles had sent his best. Jack she hadn't heard from in quite a while, not that she was surprised, they'd argued the last time and she'd said some things she'd wished she hadn't.

A few weeks after moving to the new city, an Agent had approached her, introducing himself as Jim Rivers and asked if he could take her to dinner as a kind-of welcome to the neighbourhood thing. She'd been sceptical at first, not sure of his motives, but he'd been a fun date and more importantly had taken her deafness in his stride, he'd reminded her a little of David, albeit an older version. They'd been out a few times and he'd even helped her find the apartment she was living in and then one evening, out of the blue, he'd mentioned knowing Jack who had asked him to keep an eye on her and make sure she settled in okay. She'd been furious and jumped to all the wrong conclusions, calling him that same night to say 'thank you' for his help but 'no thanks'. She'd torn strips off him, comparing him with her mother who had thought she couldn't survive on her own either and told him she didn't need him to fix her up with dates or anything else for that matter and then she'd slammed down the receiver without even giving him a chance to reply.

The next evening a somewhat irate Lucy had called to set her straight. It seemed that Jack himself, had done a short stint in Federal Plaza when he was dating Allie and knew from experience how hostile and unfriendly the people could be and how hard it was to find affordable accommodation in the area, so he'd asked Jim to help out until she'd found her feet, the dating part, on the other hand, had been totally down to Jim, Jack hadn't known anything about it. Her friend also had confided to her that a certain Agent Hudson had been downright miserable since she'd left and had been planning on paying her a surprise visit as soon as work allowed. Immediately contrite she'd left several messages on his answering machine but he'd never responded.

He'd been right about one thing… making friends had been an uphill struggle. The people she worked with had no inclination to socialise with each other after hours and the one or two she had made, were married with families of their own to occupy their time. She'd found and joined a local Deaf Club but had learned very quickly that walking home at night alone wasn't the best idea. She'd been approached by strangers several times and it had scared her and she was pretty sure that, at least once, she'd only been saved from being mugged, by Levi and his 'scary' face. A more terrifying incident that had happened a few weeks prior to her trip home had prompted her to reconsider her future…

She'd been alone in her apartment reading in bed when all the power had gone out. Scrambling out from under the covers she'd made it over to the window to open the drapes in the hope the street lighting would allow her to see her way around but outside was in darkness too. Feeling her way back, she walked into the table at the side of bed and banged her knee hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. It had taken forever to find her BlackBerry, which thankfully she'd just charged, but when she'd flipped open the address book she'd realised she had no one to call. Levi had pushed closer to her and she could feel that he was agitated and on alert which meant he could hear something that was worrying him. Flashes of red and blue had danced across the ceiling as emergency vehicles passed by and she'd felt panic rising up inside of her. In desperation she'd pressed the first speed dial number hoping he'd answer but the only thing that had come up on her screen had been the taped 'sorry I can't take your call' message.

Frightened and with tears running down her face, she'd whispered his name over and over almost begging him to answer and then suddenly the message had changed. Relief had flooded through her and just knowing he was there had served to calm some of her fears. She'd explained to him as coherently as she could about the blackout and being alone with Levi and he'd asked her to use the light from her cell to make sure her door was locked and chained and then get back into bed to keep warm. He'd stayed with her all night until the low-battery warning light had come on just as the first light of dawn had broken over the city and she'd thanked him for his kindness and apologised properly for the way she'd treated him the last time they'd spoken. He'd told her it was okay and said goodbye but she wasn't sure if he'd really meant it or if he was simply trying to bring the call to an end.

The next morning when she'd left for work she'd been shocked by the scene outside. Several store windows had been smashed; the broken glass scattered over the sidewalk and glistening in the harsh morning sunlight, bearing witness to the looting that had obviously gone on overnight. Wooden doorframes were scorched where small fires had been started, including one in the entranceway to her building. She'd been so intent on surveying the ground to pick out a safe path for Levi that she hadn't noticed Jim getting out of his car and she'd jumped violently when he'd loomed up in front of her. He'd told her Jack had called to ask him to make sure she was alright and given her a ride into work. That time she'd been properly grateful and made sure she'd apologised to him as well.

Popping into the shops on her way home, she'd bought far more candles than she could possibly ever need along with matches to light them and then stopped off for flashlights and spare batteries. The stores that had been damaged were boarded up and it wasn't until she'd run into one of her neighbours that she'd learned several of the apartments in her block had been broken into. The consensus of opinion had been that the only reason their floor hadn't been touched was because of Levi's continuous warning bark and they'd bought him a chew-toy as a thank you. Closing her door, she'd pushed the bolts home and put on the chain before making a quick meal and locking them both in the bedroom for the night. It was at that point she'd finally accepted that New York City wasn't the place for her and it was only her stubborn pride keeping her there, she belonged with her friends and people who cared. It was something Deanne had tried to tell her in the church in Georgetown so many months ago and before she'd had the chance to talk herself out of it, she'd picked up the phone to call D and ask if there was any possibility of a transfer back.

o-xxx-o

Second and final part coming soon!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I hope everyone is safe after Superstorm Sandy. Second and final installment as promised. Enjoy and please review when you have a moment. Meanwhile, back at my other stories...

o-xxx-o

It was a very disappointed and rather despondent Sue Thomas, who let herself back into her old apartment when she returned from her meeting with Dimitrius Gans.

Lucy ran out to greet her. "So, when do you start?"

"I don't," Sue sighed miserably dropping onto the sofa she'd been using as a bed and stroking Levi's head as it rested on her leg.

"What do you mean, you don't?"

"What I said. When I first asked, D told me that while he knew I could do the work, my sudden decision to leave had upset every member of the team and he felt he needed talk to them individually first to see how they felt before he could give me a final decision."

"That's right, he asked me and I said I'd love it if you came back and I thought everyone else would, too."

"**Thank you, **but apparently they didn't all feel that way so in the end he had to turn down my request."

"What?" Lucy's voice had climbed a few octaves.

"He was very nice about it, said he would have had me back in a flash if it wasn't for…" She nibbled on her bottom lip to stop herself from crying.

"Who would..? Myles, it has to be. You just wait until I get through with him." She reached over the arm of the chair to pick up the phone.

"Luce no, we can't be sure it was him and I don't want to cause any more trouble. I'll get a flight back to New York on Monday."

"But you hate it there."

"What other choice do I have?"

Her friend thought it through for a moment. "Go and see Jack, talk to him. He's the Team Leader, if anyone can fix it, he can."

"I can't do that."

"Why not..? Remember you said you wanted to thank him in person for what he did that awful night and I'm sure you could casually drop it into the conversation."

Sue looked at her doubtfully.

"Go on, what have you got to lose?"

o-xxx-o

"Hi." Jack greeted her warily although he didn't seem that surprised to see her standing outside. "Come in," he stepped to one side to let his visitors past before closing the door again. "Sit, please."

"Thank you." Sue made herself comfortable on his couch with Levi at her feet.

"Hey, Knucklehead…"

The dog barked and wagged his tail happily as Jack gave him a scratch and he received a canine kiss in return.

"It's good to see you too, pal."

He was dressed in a torso-hugging black t-shirt and tight jeans and was looking at her with those beautiful chocolate-coloured eyes, which still had the power to turn her insides to mush and it had taken all of her willpower not to hug him 'hello' when he'd opened the door. "Coffee..?"

"Please." It came out as a croak so she quickly cleared her throat and tried again. "I'd love one."

An awkward silence fell on the room when he returned and they both tried to break it at the same time.

"Jack…" "Sue…"

"Sorry, after you."

"No, you first..."

"I was going to ask if you were okay after what happened but I can see you are… stupid question." The friendly rapport they'd always shared seemed to have deserted them.

"We're fine now. You must have been tired the next morning."

He shrugged, "Crash gave me a hard time, wanted to know what I'd been up to."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I'd spent the entire night talking to a beautiful woman."

"I wanted to come over and thank you properly. I was really scared until..."

"I know I could hear it in your voice. Had you been calling long?"

"A few minutes, that's all."

He sighed in relief. "Thank the Lord, I was really worried that you'd been alone in the dark for hours, I know how difficult it is for you," Levi whuffed softly. "Sorry boy, I know you were there too."

"Did I wake you?"

"No, I was on a stake-out with another Unit, I'm just glad I came home when I did."

"Me, too…"

The conversation fizzled again and she took a few sips of her drink, wondering how to broach the other subject she'd come to talk to him about.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Can't a girl just stop by for a visit?"

"Of course, but the way you keep worrying your lip and stroking Levi tells me there's more to it than that."

"Still read me like a book, huh?"

Jack just shrugged.

Placing her mug back in the coaster she took a steadying breath. "You know I asked D about transferring back to D.C.?"

"Yes."

"Well, there's a problem."

"I know that too."

"You couldn't speak to Myles for me, could you, find out what's wrong? I thought we'd put all that other stuff behind us a long time ago."

"Sue," he paused for a second, screwing up his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "It isn't Myles."

"But it has to be. Bobby and Tara…"

"It isn't Myles, or Bobby, or Tara, or D," Jack interrupted her. "I'm the one who has the doubts."

She definitely hadn't seen that one coming. "You, why..?" Her voice held a hurt edge. "We always made such a great team and you said you didn't want me to leave."

"But you did."

"And you think I might do it again, is that it?"

"Maybe… I don't know."

"What if I told you accepting that job was one of the worst mistakes of my life and it didn't take me long to realise I didn't belong there."

Getting to his feet, he walked to the window and stared out into the street with unseeing eyes and when he turned his expression was sad. "Sue, I can't say yes, I want to but I can't… I don't think I can go back to the way things were before, it's just too hard, especially after…"

She tried to reassure him, "I know it'll take time to earn your trust again but I promise I'll do whatever it takes."

Jack carried on as though he hadn't heard her. "You have no idea how many times I wished I'd left you in 'Fingerprinting'…"

"But I thought," her eyes started to tear up and her voice faltered. "You, you always said I was an asset to the team and you were glad I was there."

"I was, am… was."

"Then it's me personally?"

"Sue, it's not…" he paused again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Okay."

"Why did you call me that night?"

"You know why."

"That's not what I meant. There must have been others… Lucy or Bobby… Tara, Jim or David… So, why me..?"

Not being able to hear the way he was saying the words she took his question to mean that he'd rather she hadn't, so she said the first thing that came into her head. "It was dark, I was scared and yours was the first speed dial number my fingers found." Wrong answer, she could see it on his face and in his eyes.

"Okay." Defeated, he picked up the empty mugs to return them to the kitchen.

"Jack, wait…" He stopped but didn't turn until she spoke again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Why?"

"Because, it isn't true…"

Returning the mugs to the table, he sat down again. "Then, why? Sue, please, I need to know."

She nibbled on her lip anxiously, annoyed with herself for letting Lucy talk her into this situation and she knew she had to be completely honest or run the risk of losing a friend. No, that was wrong… Jack wasn't just a friend, it went far deeper… she'd felt it the first moment she saw him again.

"You're right. I could have called any of them but I didn't, you were the only one. Maybe I shouldn't have but I needed to see your voice. Jack, you've always been there, whether it was to rescue me from serial killers, slave-trading, false prophets or just my Mom," she gave him a quirky smile. "And I knew if I could just talk to you, I'd be okay. Of course, I had no idea then about the looters who were outside on the street breaking into the local stores and some of the apartments in my building."

"What?" Jack stared at her in horror. "They didn't..?"

"No not mine. Luckily I had the vicious beast looking out for me. The neighbours think it was his barking that kept them off our floor, they even gave him a reward."

"New York City can be a dangerous place."

"So can anywhere, even D.C."

"But at least while you were here, I knew you weren't alone."

"And that's why you asked Jim to look out for me. Jack, I'm sorry about that other call, I shouldn't have said all those things."

"And I shouldn't have interfered I was just worried about you but if I'd known the jerk was going to hit on you, I would have asked someone else."

"He didn't hit on me he just took me out to dinner a few times and showed me around."

"Same difference..."

"So, if you don't like me being in New York, why did you say 'no' to my coming back here?"

"I didn't say 'no' to that exactly," he sighed rubbing his face with his hands in an effort to clear his brain. "When I first met you the day you stormed into the bullpen, there was just something about you… Then finding out you were deaf but still determined to carve yourself out a place in the F.B.I., I wanted to help, give you the opportunity to prove yourself."

"And you did. You taught me so much, first as my Training Agent and then as my partner."

"I learned a lot from you as well, mainly about myself; the person I was and the one I wanted to be and almost without my noticing it, you became part of my life and I found that I looked forward to spending time with you. It didn't matter what we were doing or where we were as long as… and then you were gone."

"You said you wished you'd left me in 'fingerprinting'," she reminded him gently.

"That's because I wanted so much to… I mean if I had then maybe we could have… I mean…" He groaned in frustration, not wanting to say the words out loud for fear she'd laugh in his face. "You know what I mean."

"Not a clue, S-P-A-R-K-Y. Do you mind if I call you Sparky?" Her grin and the twinkle in her eyes told him she was teasing him and for the first time since she'd arrived he actually laughed, shaking his head and waggling a finger in admonishment.

"Very funny Thomas..."

"You remember?"

"I remember."

"Now, what was it you were trying to say?"

"Lord, I have missed you and if the only way to have you back in my life is to carry on as we were, then that will have to be enough. I'll call D and tell him I've changed my mind."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah," he smiled a little sadly.

"Could you ask him if he has any contacts in counter-terrorism?"

"Why?"

"I thought my past year's work experience might be of some use here in D.C."

"But then you won't be…" She could practically see the cogs turning in his head. "And we could… If you wanted to that is."

"I may regret this one day but I'd like to, very much."

"You would?"

She nodded, "uh-huh."

"There could be another problem."

"What?"

"I'm not sure I can wait three whole dates before I kiss you."

"Well, if we count all the times we've had dinner or been to Montrose with Amanda…" Before she could finish he was sitting at her side.

"Then, I'm way overdue…" Raising a hand, he gently caressed the side of her face, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and then his mouth met hers, the touch both warm and tender.

"Wow…"

"I can do better." This time he took her into his arms, pulling her close, and the second kiss was filled with love and lingered until they reluctantly parted to draw breath. "I think I'd better make that call." Taking her hand, he pressed the back of it to his lips and went to fetch his cell.

o-xxx-o

"Well, what did you find out?" Lucy muted the sound of the movie she'd been watching for the past hour, still clueless as to what it was about. "I'm guessing by the look on your face it didn't go well."

Sue sighed but didn't reply.

"Is he going to talk to Myles?"

"Myles wasn't the one who objected."

"Oh," Lucy looked a little uncomfortable. "I guess that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"I couldn't just sit here and wait, so I called him."

"You didn't."

"You know, he actually had the nerve to deny it."

"That's because it wasn't him."

"I know that now," her face took on a pained expression. "Oh boy, I guess this means I'm going to have to apologise on Monday," she groaned. "And, I'll probably be making it up to him for the rest of my life. So, who was it?"

"Jack."

"What?" Her friend stared at her in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

Sue's expression turned even bleaker. "No."

"But he knows what happened to you in New York. Don't tell me he still hasn't forgiven you for that other phone call?"

Sue shrugged but remained silent.

"Then I guess you'll be flying back on Monday, after all."

"No, I have an appointment with the Head of Counter-Terrorism after lunch."

"You're staying?"

"If, the interview goes my way..."

"Whoa, back up. So what you're telling me is Jackson Samuel Hudson has no problem with you working in the same building, just not in the same office?"

"That's about it."

"Well, that's very generous of him." She snorted sarcastically. "I hope he had a good reason."

Reflexively, Sue licked her lips. "He did, several as a matter-of-fact. I didn't get everything he was saying but it had something to do with the F.B.I. rules on fraternization."

"But they only apply to… You mean… You… He… You're..."

Sue couldn't keep up the pretence any longer and her face broke out into a huge grin.

"Yes! I want all the details… What did he say? What did you say? Did he kiss you? What was it like?"

"Sorry Luce," Sue apologised less than sincerely as she checked her watch. "I have to shower and change, he's picking me up in about half-an-hour."

"Your first real date," her eyes took on a dreamy look.

"It's only dinner..."

"Dinner today, tomorrow, who knows?"

Thirty minutes later the doorbell rang and Lucy rushed to answer it. "Jackson."

"Lucy."

The rotor simply stood and stared at him with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Is she ready?"

"I'll go and see." As she left, Levi came rushing over and when he looked up she was standing in front of him.

"Oh, hi..."

"Hi, yourself… I hope this is okay, I'm afraid I didn't bring much with me." She was wearing a pale blue v-neck sweater and a black skirt.

"It's fine. Are you ready?"

"Just about," she slipped on her jacket and picked up her purse from the table. "Luce, I might be late so don't wait up."

Jack opened the door and they walked out into the hallway hand-in-hand. "She will…" He grinned.

"I know."

"So, where would you like to go?"

"How about the restaurant we went to with Randy and Hannah? That was a nice place."

"As long as you don't ask him to join us..."

"Party-pooper, I was hoping he'd entertain us with stories of his undercover work."

"Let's save that for another time, okay? Tonight I want you all to myself."

"…Could turn out to be a dull evening."

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that but I'm willing to take my chances."

o-xxx-o ~ **The End** ~ o-xxx-o


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